2008–09 PBA season

2008–09 PBA season
DurationOctober 4, 2008 – July 17, 2009
Number of teams10
TV partner(s)C/S9, Basketball TV
2008 PBA Draft
Top draft pickGabe Norwood
Picked byRain or Shine Elasto Painters
Season MVPJayjay Helterbrand
(Barangay Ginebra Kings)
Philippine Cup championsTalk 'N Text Tropang Texters
  Philippine Cup runners-upAlaska Aces
Fiesta Conference championsSan Miguel Beermen
  Fiesta Conference runners-upBarangay Ginebra Kings
Seasons

The 2008–09 PBA season was the 34th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. The season formally opened on October 4, 2008[1] and ended on July 17, 2009. This was the first time that the league will hold their opening ceremonies on a Saturday. The league started the season with the 2008-09 Philippine Cup, or the traditional All-Filipino Conference, while capping off the season with the import-laiden 2009 Fiesta Conference.

The first activity of the season was the 2008 PBA Draft last August 31 at the Market! Market! in Taguig.

Pre-season events

[edit]

Broadcast contracts

[edit]

The 2008-09 season would be the first season under the PBA's new broadcast contract with Solar Sports. Games would now air on their cable channel Basketball TV, and on the stations of the Radio Philippines Network (who curiously, were the first broadcaster of the PBA) after an intense bidding war between Solar and ABS-CBN.[2]

Team re-brandings

[edit]

Major trades

[edit]

Opening ceremonies

[edit]

The season began on October 4 with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters defeating the Coca Cola Tigers, 98-97.

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:[3]

Team Muse
Air21 Express Karla Henry
Alaska Aces Isabelle Daza
Barangay Ginebra Kings Iwa Moto
Coca-Cola Tigers Pokwang
Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants Iya Villania
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Priscilla Meirelles
Red Bull Barako Marianna del Rio
San Miguel Beermen 5 SMB models
Sta. Lucia Realtors Ariana Barouk
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters Rufa Mae Quinto

2008-09 Philippine Cup

[edit]

Elimination round

[edit]
Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 Alaska Aces 12 6 .667 Advance to semifinals
2 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 11 7 .611 1
3 Barangay Ginebra Kings 10 8 .556[a] 2 Advance to quarterfinals
4 Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 10 8 .556[a] 2
5 Sta. Lucia Realtors 10 8 .556[a] 2
6 San Miguel Beermen 9 9 .500 3 Advance to wildcard round
7 Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants 8 10 .444[b] 4
8 Air21 Express 8 10 .444[b] 4
9 Coca-Cola Tigers 7 11 .389 5
10 Red Bull Barako 5 13 .278 7
Source: PBA.ph
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head differential: Barangay Ginebra +16, Rain or Shine −3, Sta. Lucia −13
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Purefoods 2–0 Air21

Playoffs

[edit]
Wildcard phase
(single elimination)
Wildcard phase
(single elimination)
Quarterfinals
(best-of-3)
Semifinals
(best-of-7)
Finals
(best-of-7)
7Purefoods822Talk 'N Text4
8Air21943Ginebra16San Miguel2
8Air21866San Miguel2
6San Miguel1052Talk 'N Text4
6San Miguel991Alaska3
9Coca-Cola89
1Alaska4Third place
4Rain or Shine05Sta. Lucia2
5Sta. Lucia26San Miguel97
5Sta. Lucia (OT)99

Finals

[edit]
Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7
(1) Alaska Aces 3–4 (2) Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 102–95 100–91 73–92 98–100 95–93 94–99 89–93

Smart Gilas exhibition games

[edit]

Exhibition games were held prior to Games 4 and 6 of the Philippine Cup finals between the Smart Gilas (Philippines team that will compete in the FIBA Asia Championship 2011) coached by Rajko Toroman and previously eliminated teams from the Philippine Cup. The games also marked the appearance of the newly renamed Burger King Titans team formerly known as the Air21 Express.

2009 Fiesta Conference

[edit]

Notable events

[edit]
  • Red Bull Barako changed their name to Barako Bull Energy Boosters.
  • The former Air21 Express were renamed as the Burger King Titans. However, with the failure of several business deals that would have changed the franchise's upper management, the Titans renamed into the Burger King Whoppers by their seventh game into the conference, retaining their old management headed by the Lina family.
  • The May 16 game between the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Alaska Aces held at the Albay Astrodome in Legaspi was canceled when the playing court was judged as too slippery, with Ginebra leading 9–2, and 8:04 remaining in the first quarter. The game was stopped twice and the stoppages lasted two hours before the game was canceled. The game was restarted at the Araneta Coliseum on May 22.[4]

Classification round

[edit]
Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 San Miguel Beermen 11 3 .786 Advance to semifinals
2 Barangay Ginebra Kings 8 6 .571[a] 3
3 Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 8 6 .571[a] 3 Twice-to-beat in the wildcard round
4 Burger King Whoppers 8 6 .571[a] 3
5 Sta. Lucia Realtors 7 7 .500[b] 4 Knockout in the wildcard round
6 Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants 7 7 .500[b] 4
7 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 7 7 .500[b] 4
8 Coca-Cola Tigers 6 8 .429[c] 5
9 Alaska Aces 6 8 .429[c] 5 Twice-to-win in the wildcard round
10 Barako Bull Energy Boosters 2 12 .143 9
Source: PBA.ph
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Head-to-head differential: Rain or Shine +15, Barangay Ginebra −7, Burger King −8; second seed playoff: Barangay Ginebra 114–71 Rain or Shine
  2. ^ a b c Head-to-head differential: Sta. Lucia +7, Purefoods +3, Talk 'N Text −10
  3. ^ a b Eighth seed playoff: Coca-Cola 81–74 Alaska

Playoffs

[edit]
Wildcard phaseQuarterfinals
(Best-of-3)
Semifinals
(Best-of-7)
Finals
(Best-of-7)
(#4 twice to beat)
4Burger King96
1San Miguel4
9Alaska90
4Burger King24Burger King2
(Single-elimination)
5Sta. Lucia1
5Sta. Lucia94
1San Miguel4
8Coca-Cola88
2Ginebra3
(#3 twice to beat)
3Rain or Shine96
2Ginebra4Third place playoff
10Barako Bull88
3Rain or Shine23Rain or Shine2
(Single-elimination)
6Purefoods14Burger King132
6Purefoods (2OT)126
3Rain or Shine118
7Talk 'N Text123

Finals

[edit]
Team 1 Series Team 2 Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7
(1) San Miguel Beermen 4–3 (2) Barangay Ginebra Kings 96–102 95–78 103–116 106–104 98–106 98–84 90–79

Philippines-Australia goodwill series

[edit]

An Australian team was invited to a two-game series between the national team, with the winner of a game being awarded P75,000 (about A$4,340).[5]

April 3
Powerade-Team Pilipinas  87–63 Australia Motolite-Australia Great White Sharks
April 5
Powerade-Team Pilipinas  93–89 (OT) Australia Motolite-Australia Hoopdreamz

2009 PBA All-Star Weekend

[edit]

The 2009 PBA All-Star Weekend was held from April 22 to 26 at three different cities, particularly: Victorias, Negros Occidental (April 22), Panabo, Davao del Norte (April 24), and Quezon City (April 26). The winners were:

All-Star Games

[edit]
April 22
Powerade-Team Pilipinas 98, North All-Stars 80
Scoring by quarter: 28–23, 24–25, 25–10, 25–22
Pts: Mick Pennisi 15 Pts: Jhamar Thorpe 16
April 24
Powerade-Team Pilipinas 103, South All-Stars 99
Scoring by quarter: 28–21, 23–28, 33–13, 19–37
Pts: Jared Dillinger 12 Pts: Peter June Simon 19
April 26
6:30 p.m.
PBA All-Stars 97, Powerade-Team Pilipinas 89
Scoring by quarter: 24-23, 22-23, 25-25, 26-18
Pts: David Noel 18 Pts: Arwind Santos 18
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
Attendance: 9,000+

David Noel named the All-Star Game MVP.

Awards

[edit]

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

[edit]

Cumulative standings

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 San Miguel Beermen 61 36 25 .590 Champions
2 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 47 26 21 .553
3 Barangay Ginebra Kings 49 27 22 .551 Finalist
4 Alaska Aces 46 25 21 .543
5 Sta. Lucia Realtors 45 24 21 .533 Third place
6 Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 45 23 22 .511 Semifinalist
7 Burger King Whoppers/Titans/Air21 Express 45 23 22 .511 Third place
8 Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants 37 17 20 .459 Quarterfinalist
9 Coca-Cola Tigers 34 13 21 .382 Wildcard phase
10 Barako Bull Energy Boosters/Red Bull Barako 33 7 26 .212
Source: [citation needed]

Elimination/classification rounds

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W L PCT
1 San Miguel Beermen 32 20 12 .625
2 Barangay Ginebra Kings 32 18 14 .563
3 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 32 18 14 .563
4 Alaska Aces 32 18 14 .563
5 Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 32 18 14 .563
6 Sta. Lucia Realtors 32 17 15 .531
7 Burger King Whoppers/Titans/Air21 Express 32 16 16 .500
8 Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants 32 15 17 .469
9 Coca-Cola Tigers 32 13 19 .406
10 Barako Bull Energy Boosters/Red Bull Barako 32 7 25 .219
Source: [citation needed]

Playoffs

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W L
1 San Miguel Beermen 29 16 13
2 Barangay Ginebra Kings 17 9 8
3 Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters 15 8 7
4 Burger King Whoppers/Titans/Air21 Express 13 7 6
5 Sta. Lucia Realtors 13 7 6
6 Alaska Aces 14 7 7
7 Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 13 5 8
8 Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants 5 2 3
9 Barako Bull Energy Boosters/Red Bull Barako 1 0 1
10 Coca-Cola Tigers 2 0 2
Source: [citation needed]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Williams named MVP; Reyes picked top rookie, The Philippine Star. Accessed August 14, 2008.
  2. ^ Macamay, Zean (May 28, 2008). "Solar gets it". People's Journal. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  3. ^ PBA opens its 34th season, GMANews.tv, October 4, 2008
  4. ^ "GINEBRA – ALASKA TIFF IN LEGAZPI HALTED". May 17, 2009. Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
  5. ^ Powerade-Team Pilipinas off to a rousing debut, GMANews.tv
[edit]